


A Time to Every Purpose

by Doreen



Category: Uglies Series - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Backstory, F/F, Internalized Homophobia, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-02 14:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16788991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doreen/pseuds/Doreen
Summary: Dr. Cable was an Ugly, once upon a time. She was also hopelessly in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been two years since I wrote for this fandom, and I still haven’t read _Extras_ , nor have I read the new _Impostors_ book that came out in September. Why? Because all I really want is a Dr. Cable-centric prequel… so I wrote some myself. I chose 'Cal' as her first name because she doesn’t have a canonical first name apparently?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eve of Sol's operation.

The late afternoon rain had made the ruins slippery as Cal climbs into a rusty metal booth, her hoverboard obediently waiting meters below. Her pack is heavy with snacks and drinks she’d been hoarding from her cafeteria meals. In the distance, she can see Ellie making her way through the rest of the Rusty Ruins, stopping to wait for Sol. 

“Hurry it up, Hog-face! We haven’t got all night!” she shouts, even though there’s no way he will be able to hear her from this distance. But Ellie hears her, and she laughs, “He’s never been out this far before! Take it easy!” 

Cal opens her pack and takes out the blanket she brought, spreading it out over the bench to give them a more comfortable seat. She sets the juice and cereal packets out neatly, one, two, three, and pointedly tries to ignore the sound of Sol and Ellie whispering to each other as they approach. 

“I’m glad you invited me. This is unreal,” she overhears him telling Ellie as the two of them finally arrive at the bottom of the huge round structure. “Cal didn’t seem like she wanted me to come.” 

Sol begins scaling the side of the structure leading up to their booth at the very top, feet scraping against the rough surface, breath coming out in pants. “Hey, Fish, can you take this?” He waves his pack in the air. She briefly considers ignoring him before she climbs out across the beam he’s hanging onto and snatches the pack from his freckled hand. The booth shakes as she slips back into it. Ellie is right behind him, having no trouble managing her own pack and smirking at Sol’s laziness. 

“What did the Rusties use this thing for, anyway?” he says as he plops down beside Cal and begins to unpack, “It looks like a giant wheel.” 

“They called it a ‘fairs wheel’, I think,” Ellie swings in beside him and starts opening a juice packet. The clouds from the rain hang low over them, and Cal feels suffocated. 

“It’s Ferris Wheel, not fairs wheel, and they used it for entertainment. It would spin around and you could look out from the top and stare down at people. Sometimes they would fall over, and people would die.” Cal props her feet up on the bench opposite them and adds, “but that didn’t usually happen.” 

Sol looks uneasy as he takes a sip of his own juice, and just to spite him, Cal snaps forward quickly at the waist, causing the whole carriage to rock. “Scared, Hog?” she asks him. He glares. 

“Not scared. Just never been to the ruins outside of school trips. I don’t really think we should be out here, anyway, but Ellie really wanted me to see it. Before I turn, you know. I guess it’s pretty nice from up here, as long as you don’t do that again.” 

“I’ll do what I want,” Cal tells him, and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s glad he’ll be turning sixteen in a week and she won’t have to deal with him tagging along with her and Ellie anymore. 

“You’ve already proved you’re tricky by making it to the top first; go easy on him.” Ellie smiles at Sol, and Cal glowers at him, though he doesn’t seem to notice. 

“So, what do you think I’m going to look like?” Sol strokes his pudgy cheek. “Hopefully they’ll take all of this away.” 

“You’ve got a good nose; they probably won’t change it that much,” Ellie tells him as she taps her own rather large nose. “But your forehead is really big. And your eyes are way too small and close together.” 

“Hey, at least they’re symmetrical, Lefty,” Sol retorts. “But you’re right. Hopefully they’ll make my ears smaller too.” 

Ellie sighs, “I wish I were turning sixteen too. I don’t know what I’m going to do for four months without you. At least I still have Fish.” 

Cal, who had been staring off into the distance, trying not to think about the Operation, looks over at the sound of her name. “At least you only have four months; I’ve got four more after you’re gone, Ellie.” 

Ellie gives her a sad look and says, “It’ll go by fast. You’ve always got along great on your own anyway! You made it out here a bunch of times alone before you even told me about it!” 

Cal smiles ruefully and starts snacking on one of the chip packets. The truth is, she can’t imagine her life without Ellie. Their parents had been neighbors when they were littlies, and they’d spent uncountable hours in their younger years wading in the river, climbing trees, braiding each other’s hair. Then they’d been placed in the same dorm upon arriving in Uglyville and had constantly tried to out-trick each other. Even her nickname, Fish, had been gifted to her by Ellie, and nowadays she was seldom addressed by anything else. It had been Ellie, never her parents, who had hugged her as she cried, and who had told her things would be better one day. Every happy memory that Cal could think of has Ellie right there in the middle of it all. Her dimples, her tinkling laugh, her eyes almost golden in the afternoon sun, and the little mole on her cheek that would probably be erased immediately during the Operation. 

Sol and Ellie have climbed out together onto the adjacent beam, and Cal can feel that her face has slipped into a frown, probably making her look even fishier. She knows Ellie has many other friends and has never seen her friendship with Cal as anything more significant, but it’s still painful to watch how attached to Sol she’s become over the past few weeks since they’d met. Cal knows that her feelings towards Ellie are unnatural -- girls aren’t supposed to feel that way about other girls; it’s not productive. Yet she still can’t stop the way her stomach lurches which has nothing to do with the chips she’s eating, or the fact that she’s dangling from a carriage over a hundred meters in the air. 

Out where they’re sitting, Sol has his arm around Ellie. Cal picks up the blanket, wraps it tight around herself; closes her eyes so she doesn’t have to see them anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eve of Ellie's Operation.

In the dorm, Ellie’s legs hang off the end of her bed as she adjusts one of her favorite morphos up on the wallscreen, with large, enhanced green eyes radiating light and smooth, dimpleless cheeks. She’s still recognizable has herself, but only barely. Fish is lying with her head against the pillow, arms behind her head, staring at the ceiling to avoid looking at the bizarre facsimile of her best friend. 

“What do you think, Cal? Think they can make me look like this tomorrow? I tried not to make any extreme changes.” 

Cal shrugs and after a too-long pause mumbles, “I don’t know. Seems like they could.” She closes her eyes. She’s never felt so jarred by her own morphos, looks forward to the day when she can see some version of them in the mirror, but watching Ellie’s face on screen get contorted and blurred makes her stomach twist uneasily.

“What’s wrong with you? I’m leaving tomorrow and you don’t even care. I wanted to hang out with you one last time, not watch you sulk.” 

Cal feels tears building up and squeezes her eyes tighter, resting her hand against her forehead. “I’m sorry. I’m excited for you. I just… I don’t know what I’m going to do for four months.” I’m going to be so alone without you, she doesn’t say. Cal has always had a prickly sort of demeanor, which pushes most people away, except for Ellie and Sol -- and Sol most likely just put up with her because of Ellie (but at least that feeling was mutual). 

Ellie seems to understand what she’s thinking, crawling up the bed to lie on her back. “Four months goes by fast. Remember when Sol left? Feels like yesterday.” 

Not wanting to argue further, Cal gives a nod of agreement, but in reality it feels like forever ago that the three of them had boarded out to the ruins on the eve of Sol’s departure. It has been four long months of wishing she could have the rest of her life with Ellie, and four long months of listening to Ellie talk about how much she misses Sol, and Cal knowing that there is no future for her. When she opens her eyes, they’re full of tears, and she lets out a gasp as one falls down her cheek.

“Fish,” Ellie croons, wrapping an arm around her as she tries to stifle her sobs, “It’ll be okay. In four months we’ll all be together again, and you won’t even care about this. Me and Sol will be waiting for you. It’ll be all right.” Ellie’s hand is warm where it’s stroking her shoulder, her chest rising and falling steadily while Cal struggles to calm down. She looks at Ellie’s face, inches away from her own, studying it, trying to never forget all the times she’s made her laugh, the way her big nose crinkles up when she’s dubious about another one of Cal’s suggestions, her bushy, uneven eyebrows that give away what she’s feeling at any moment. Thinks about what it would be like to kiss Ellie’s thin lips before the Operation pumps them full of fat, wonders what her own face will look like in four months and wonders whether the Operation will somehow be able to rid her of the feelings that she knows are completely inappropriate to be having towards another girl. 

“If you want, you can stay here for the night,” Ellie breaks through her spiral of thoughts, “I don’t have to leave for the hospital until midday tomorrow.” Cal nods, and Ellie turns off the lights. 

As they both settle under the blanket, Cal is surprised to feel Ellie extending her arm again to rest it around her shoulders. She sinks into the touch, letting out of a sigh. “I love you, Cal,” Ellie whispers, though Cal knows she doesn’t mean it in a romantic sense. She continues, “I don’t want you to be miserable. I know it feels like forever. But it’s going to be okay. Get some sleep.” 

In the night, Cal wakes up when feels Ellie shift her arm, wrapping it around her waist, pulling Cal closer, so she puts her chin over Ellie’s shoulder, closes her eyes, and tries not to think about tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [dreamwidth](http://d0reen.dreamwidth.org/) where I also talk a little bit about the timeline of this fic. Feel free to drop me a line there if you want to chat, I'm super down to talk about Uglies literally any time day or night. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are very, very appreciated!


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